Ahead of his speech marking the 5-year anniversary of the financial crisis, President Barack Obama gave brief remarks discussing the Washington D.C. Navy Yard shooting.

"We are confronting another mass shooting," Obama said.

The president, like D.C. officials at an earlier press conference, highlighted that information is still coming in, and much remains unconfirmed.

"I've been briefed by my team on the situation. We still don't know all the facts, but we do know that several people have been shot and some people have been killed," he said.

Obama took the opportunity to emphasize the dedicated service to the country of the shooting's victims. "It's a shooting that targeted our military and civilian personnel. These are men and women [...] doing their jobs and going to work. They're patriots," he said. "We will honor their service to the nation."

The president called for a "seamless investigation" that features federal and local teams working together. At the earlier D.C. press conference, the D.C. police chief said that the F.B.I. had been on the scene since early this morning.

As confirmed details remain scarce, Obama kept his remarks short and succinct before moving to his planned remarks on the economy.

"Obviously we will investigate thoroughly what has happened, as we have so many of these shootings that have happened, sadly," he said.